|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kerala, Kerala: Quite Contrary IN this age, when nothing, absolutely nothing, sells without marketing and catch phrases, places also have slogans brandishing their USP. Though few can compete with the all-encapsulating ‘God’s Own Country’. Whether or not the place can match up to its name is a very individual perception. Kerala is a place that brings to mind pictures of lush green fields, sultry backwaters, dusky beautiful maidens with dark, long hair and temples that surpass in beauty all others. In more recent times, it has also become synonymous with ayurvedic massages and spas. It could indeed be God’s very own place, but it is also a place of contradictions.
The book is replete with stories of NRI Malayalis returning home and carrying back a mixed bag of experiences; a Kerala that is just the same as it was when they last visited and also the dynamic part that has changed beyond belief. The very same people who are deemed to be extremely unwilling to do anything in their own homeland are hailed as the most hardworking when they reach Gulf shores. It is also perhaps the only place in India where the Christians and Hindus live together like a family, literally, having declared Mother Mary and Bhagwati as sisters. It is also a place where contradictions and controversies abound. The article The Argumentative Malayali by D. Vijyamohan is a very interesting piece that is a sceptical look at the Malayali’s thought process. From the strikes against the mechanisation of the coir industry to the introduction of computers and tractors, Keralites seem to be quick at churning up issues where there are none. It is also a place where a passenger on the train would accept a package from a stranger and not ditch it even when he thinks it could be bomb as his heart tugs at him to do this act of human kindness as it could just a well contain wedding cards. Sheila Kumar, travel writer, illustrates it beautifully in Three Men on a Train. Shashi Tharoor’s article, Buliding Brand Kerela, scratches the surface to reveal the reasons for the tags that the Malayali’s have earned. He compares the basic statistics of Kerala to none other than the US and demonstrates that in the areas of literacy, life expectancy, birth rate and female to male ratio, Kerala is almost equivalent to or better than its counterpart. And all this when the Malayalis achieve these numbers at a fraction of their annual per capita income. It is Kerala that has given us artists like Raja Ram Varma who have put Indian art on the international scene. The diversity in its culture can be attributed to the historical evidence which points out that they were trading with the Chinese, Arabs, Romans and the Phoenicians way before the rest of the country. The more you find out about it, the deeper you want to delve. The book also offers a bouquet of short stories that are set in Kerala and are so endearing and Indian in context that they could just as well be set in any place from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
|
||
|
|
||
Shinie
Antony, the author of Kerala, Kerala, has compiled fiction,
non-fiction, travelogues and memoirs from a vast variety of people.
There are politicians, writers, amateur writers, a 13-year-old writing
for an essay competition and even a domestic help with a Malayali
connection. The vast array of people who figure in this compilation
ensure an equally wide range of opinions about the place. Looking
through so many different perspectives, it is like opening a new
window of the same house, but with a completely different view. Shinie
has authored Barefoot and Pregnant, Kardamom Kisses, Planet
Polygamous and Séance on a Sunday Afternoon. She lives
with her husband and two children in Bangalore.